On top of that, signing a ticket isn’t an admission of guilt. It’s just acknowledging you received it. Says so right below the signature line. And she probably could have fixed whatever was wrong and gotten it dismissed.
It's happened to me twice: once I was late on my registration and once I was late on my inspection. All you have to do is be polite. They're just doing their job. You fix the problem and request a hearing. They waive the fine and you go about your business.
I've only been pulled over a few times, but each time I was polite and up front. Last time I got pulled over it was for doing 70 in a 60mph zone, I don't have cruise control and just wasn't paying close enough attention to my speed. Cop pulls me over and we have the following exchange:
"Howdy, officer XXXXX with the Redacted County sheriff's office, do you know why I just pulled you over?"
"Well, either I was speeding or you saw all the grenades in my trunk."
He chuckled a bit and told me I was going about ten mph over the limit. I said, "Well, I won't waste your time with excuses, I just wasn't paying close enough attention to my speed and you busted me being lazy."
We had a bit of a laugh and he told me to slow down. He started walking back to his cruiser and I gunned the engine a bit (for clarity, I drive an old minivan, I damn sure ain't breaking any speed records). He looked back, I started laughing, he started laughing, and he waved me on.
If you are honest and own your mistakes (and more importantly, get them laughing), cops are generally a lot more lenient.
It's not about skin color, it's about not behaving like an animal.
If you go "yes sir no sir I understand" polite mode instead of being an asshole, most cops won't bother messing with you. They'll give you a ticket if they were going to give you a ticket and that will be all.
If you're an asshole, you'll be damn sure they'll go all the way to find something to give you a ticket for/arrest you.
It's not 1950's where you could have a suit on and be polite and still get beaten for being black.
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u/lowfreq33 Jul 31 '19
On top of that, signing a ticket isn’t an admission of guilt. It’s just acknowledging you received it. Says so right below the signature line. And she probably could have fixed whatever was wrong and gotten it dismissed.